Singapore Tamil Youth Conference 2016 Manifesto NUSTLS Singapore Tamil Youth Conference 2016 Manif | Page 82

Issue 14: Instilling Community Work Amongst Tamil Community
Author: Mr. Bhargav Sriganesh
Background
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Instilling a spirit of volunteerism in the Indian youths refers
to an attempt to make Indian youths in Singapore assist
fellow members of their ethnic community.
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Various factors including apathy and lack of time preclude
Indian youths from volunteering.
It must be clarified that SINDA is not the only Indian
voluntary or welfare organisation in Singapore. There is a •
plethora of other organisations including Indian Community
Welfare Centre, Ramakrishna Mission, Singapore Indian
Education Trust etc.
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Primary Needs of the Indian Community (SINDA 2020:
Strategic Review)
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Is there a "Tamil Indian Community"
Low enrolment in pre-school education
• Indian children from disadvantaged family backgrounds
do not enrol for pre-school education.
• Lack of financial support and awareness about the
importance of pre-school education prevent parents
from sending their children to kindergartens.
Inadequate early exposure to literacy or numeracy skills
• There is a disproportionately high number of Indian
students in Focused Language Assistance in Reading
(FLAir) programmes.
• Without early intervention, inadequate literacy and
numeracy skills can hinder the long-term prospects of
students in landmark examinations like PSLE.
Mathematics performance gap
• The main root cause of the overall academic under-
performance of Indians stems from a weakness in
Mathematics.
• Being weak in Mathematics limits Indian students from
access to a variety of courses and academic disciplines in
tertiary institutions and universities.
Low Motivation and drive towards academic excellence
• There is a perception that youths, even from the better
secondary schools, do not aspire to be amongst the top
students.
• Other under-performing youths who do not perform
well in landmark examinations could be blighted by
behavioural issues like addiction to drugs and smoking.
Social Issues
• Social issues include alcohol and drug addiction, family
violence and issues arising from unemployment.
• These issues were identified by the Study Group on
Indian Social Issues which conducted a survey involving
550 respondents from a cross-section of the Indian
community. The Study Group on Indian Social Issues
(SGISI) is an independent committee comprising Kalyani
Mehta, R.Jayachandran, K. Kesavapany, Arun
Mahizhnan, Rajesh Rai, Hernakh Singh, P. Thirunal
Karasu and S. Vivakanandan.
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The Indian community in Singapore has always been
heterogeneous and therefore it is very difficult to clearly
demarcate a “Tamil Indian Community”.
Tamils in Singapore consist of only half of the total Indian
population in Singapore with the rest belonging to
Malayalee, Gujarati, Sindhi, Punjabi communities etc.
(Singapore Demographics Profile 2014).
Therefore, it is important to make a conceptual clarification
regarding the diversity and heterogeneity of the Indian
community in Singapore.
One of the challenges in fostering unity, cohesion and a
sense of common identity amongst the Indians in Singapore
is due to a lack of homogeneity.
For instance, there are – or at least there is a perception –
emerging cleavages between North and South Indians,
Hindi and Tamil speakers, new citizens and third or fourth
generation citizens in the Indian community (Nicholas
2015).
However, the subsequent parts of the write-up will focus
broadly on all segments of the Indian community.
Views on Volunteerism by Indian Youths
Anecdotally, here are some of the oft-quoted responses when
Indian youths are asked about whether they see a need to
assist the Indian community in Singapore:
• Apathy
• "I have my own things to do and the Indian community
has not done anything for me. In fact, I am paying my
contribution to SINDA every month."
• This attitude often stems from the "Not in my Backyard
Syndrome".
• There are Indian youths who believe that the Indian
community has not done anything productive for them
and therefore it is not their responsibility to assist
fellow members of their society in any way.
• Ignorance
• "Are there organisations like SINDA in Singapore?"
• This response is common when youths are vaguely
aware about SINDA's flagship projects but their overall
understanding of available assistance is very limited.
• Lack of Awareness about specific needs of Indian
community
• There is a perception that the Indian community might
not have specific needs.
• With a plethora of volunteering opportunities, youths
of today need to be convinced that helping the Indian
community will be a valuable use of their time.
• Time Commitment
• As one of the SYLS organisers stated, youths might have
the desire but lack the time to volunteer with the
Indian community.
• They have many extra-curricular commitments "on
their plate" and find it difficult to devote time to social
causes outside school.
• Moreover, Singaporeans as a whole have become more
‘busy’ due to a hectic lifestyle with minimal work-life
balance.
Issue 14: Instilling Community Work Amongst Tamil Community
PAGE 82